"they make enough psychotropic noise to melt the most hardened of craniums." The Fly

Directed by Ryan Ohm (Twin Peaks, Brothers in Law), Gauntlet Hair have shared a new video for their single, "Human Nature". Featuring drummer Craig Nice and singer/guitarist Andy R. partying (or could they be celebrating?) in a Chicago apartment while the storyline flashes back to seedy adventures.

The video's dark imagery heightens the murky intensity of the track. Ohm says, "We wanted to create a darker piece, utilizing locations all over the city of Chicago. Together, I think we created an atmospheric, eerie film that leaves the viewer with a strange sense of uncertainty, not sure how to feel. As DIY oriented filmmakers we embraced the guerilla shooting style, venturing quickly from one location to the next, shooting on the subway on the sly, and digging the adventure the whole time."

Gauntlet Hair's second album, Stills, will be released on 15th July via Dead Oceans.

Recorded during Portland, Oregon's grey winter days in producer Jacob Portrait's (Unknown Mortal Orchestra) appropriately named studio "The Cave," the album reveals Gauntlet Hair's guileless affection for the goth industrialists and post-punks who blazed a shadowy path through the 80s and 90s.

The album follows the once-Denver-based band's 2011 self-titled debut for Dead Oceans and singles spread across labels like Forest Family and Mexican Summer. After moving back to their hometown of Chicago last year, drummer Craig Nice and singer/guitarist Andy R. looked to their teenaged selves for inspiration. "I started listening again to the stuff I would have in my discman in the back of my mom's car," says Nice. "White Zombie, Marilyn Manson — the production on those records is so amazing. Nothing sounds like that anymore."

Mining that childhood nostalgia for inspiration has proved effective. The tracks on Stills have the signifiers of industrial and minimal-wave a la The Durutti Column or Joy Division, but all the fluidity and momentum of INXS or Depeche Mode's 80s synth-pop. "New To It" reimagines the opening snare from "I Wanna Dance Wtih Somebody" at a goth dance party. Andy R. lurches into an unearthly guttural groan halfway through "Bad Apple." "Spew" loads up on John Hughes synths. A Cobain-like sneer worms its way out of "Heave." The horror and joy combine to make Stills a garden of dark delights.

Gauntlet Hair will also be touring North America this summer, with stops along in the Midwest, Canada and along the East Coast.

26/07/13 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Pyramid Scheme w/ Delicate Steve

27/07/13 - Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog

28/07/13 - Hamilton, ON - The Casbah Lounge

30/07/13 - Washington, DC - Black Cat

31/07/13 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's

01/08/13 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge

02/08/13 - Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands

03/08/13 - Boston, MA - Church of Boston

EARLY PRAISE FOR STILLS

"there’s a real sheen to their dank smoothed out new wave" --STEREOGUM

"It’s a silver bullet of a listen that recalls less Reznor and more The Jesus and the Mary Chain, thanks to Andy R.’s vocals as he whimpers again and again: 'Anytime I can make you smile / One time a week.'" --CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND